


boo

by terrifier



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Possession, Post-Season/Series 01 Finale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-19 07:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrifier/pseuds/terrifier
Summary: They always say Ouija boards are dangerous and that you should never play with them. But what's a little wooden board when you can already see the ghosts without it? Well, they're all about to find out.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 81





	boo

**Author's Note:**

> i know i said i'd basically started falling out of love with this fandom/ show, but, basically, the tua instagram account did a thing where they posted about S2 so here i am.
> 
> i already had this chapter written and in my drafts from god-knows how long ago and ik where i want to take it, so my writer's block isnt going to stop me this time :)
> 
> Enjoy :D

They've been in the past for a few weeks now and Vanya is starting to get the hang of her powers. While the first few lessons they'd been giving her had gone as expected (with things getting demolished), she had eventually gained some understanding of how they actually worked and begun to control them instead of letting them control her (like they had during the apocalypse).

Anyway, other than helping Vanya train her powers, as expected, the siblings are trying to fix their broken relationships. Trying to get to know each other all over again. They're finally opening up to and listening to each other, and doing their best to help one another heal from the traumas of their past (or the future, depending on your point of view).

And that's why they find themselves, at one AM in the morning, in the attic, gathered in a circle with a wooden board between them, a planchette resting atop of it, completely central. Some of the siblings (Luther and Vanya) look nervous at the concept at 'messing about' with a Ouija board, whilst others (Allison and Five) actually look interesting.

Klaus himself seems indifferent. He can't remember the last time he used a Ouija board, but he knows he's used one before. He had protested, to begin with ("why? I can just summon the ghost without the board, idiots."), but after much complaining from his siblings, he had eventually agreed, eager to please them.

The siblings look around at each other, all of them waiting for one of the others to make the first move, until, with a sigh, Ben leans forward and places two fingers on the planchette.

"Are we doing this or what?" He prompts, eyeing the others.

It had been weird at first, seeing their brother actually alive and standing beside them after travelling into the past, but after a lengthy, tear-filled reunion, the siblings had simply gotten used to his constant presence. It had been hard for Ben to begin with to not follow Klaus around and comment on his brother's life choices, but again, he'd finally gotten used to actually being alive again and eating, and breathing (another thing he'd had to get used to again). It was funny, though, to watch as their once withdrawn and shy brother began commenting in unimpressed tones on everything his siblings did, so used to them not seeing or hearing him.

Allison places her painted fingers on the planchette next from her seat beside Ben, then Vanya, then Diego, Klaus, Five, and finally after a moment's hesitation, Luther. He lets out a sigh as soon as his fingers touch the wooden pointer with a circular 'window' in the centre.

"Okay, remember," Klaus says in an almost-serious voice, but the grin on his face gives his amusement away, "even if we don't contact anything, we have to say 'goodbye'. Do not take your hands off the board until you've said 'goodbye'. If we do contact any ghosts, don't ask how they died and don't mock or disrespect them. And no moving the planchette to scare everyone else. I'll know."

"Got it," Diego nods, inspecting the board.

Luther, once again, looks uncertain, but, surprisingly, he doesn't voice his worries, simply nods at Klaus' words. Five, though, mutters under his breath about how stupid it all is and how he apparently has better things to do with his time. Diego, who's beside him, nudges him and tells him it's just a bit of fun to which doesn't reply.

"Okay, so first we have to move the planchette in a circle a few times, just to warm it up," Klaus instructs.

"It's a piece of wood," Five points out.

Allison tsks at him and rolls her eyes, but doesn't comment on his reply as she and the others follow Klaus' instructions and begin moving the planchette around a few times to warm up the board.

After a few times of doing that, they collectively move the piece of wood back to the centre of the spirit board.

"Okay, as the one who can actually see the ghosts, I'll be the one asking the questions," Klaus reminds them, giving them all pointed looks like he knows one of them will speak out when he's asking questions.

"But can we tell you what questions to ask?" Luther questions curiously and it almost surprises the others that he's saying something other than the fact that they shouldn't be using a Ouija board instead of sleeping.

"Yeah," Klaus nods, "but don't mock the spirits, they just get mad."

Subtly, he lets his eyes drift to the angry spirit in the corner whom Diego had openly disregarded a few years ago. The spirit hadn't been too bad before Diego shouted in its general direction for it to leave Klaus alone, but after the disrespect toward it, it had only gotten worse and Klaus hadn't had the heart to tell his brother he'd just made it worse, so he'd said 'thank you' and wandered off to a quieter place.

For some reason, the spirit is oddly quiet as he and his siblings prepare to use the Ouija board. He suspects the angry old man is waiting for his chance to communicate with him and his siblings without simply shouting at Klaus.

"Okay," Klaus closes his eyes and breathes, and when he opens them again, he concentrates on the board, "are there any spirits here with us right now?"

"Don't you already know the answer to that?" Five rolls his eyes.

"Shut up, Five," Ben hisses quietly, narrowing his eyes at the other boy across from him.

There's an almost tense silence after that as all of the siblings subconsciously lean closer to the board, waiting for their answer. As expected, it doesn't come, so they all lean back, mildly disappointed.

Klaus opens his mouth again to repeat the question, willing one of the nearby ghosts to at least try and communicate through the board, but before he can get his question out, the planchette shakily begins to move. His eyebrows furrow as he eyes his siblings and then the ghosts in the room who haven't even approached the board, much less moved the planchette.

After an agonising few seconds of slow movement, the wooden piece comes to a stop on the word 'YES'. His siblings are all staring at the planchette in varying degrees of wonder, surprise, and intrigue. Eventually, their eyes all rest on him and he simply stares back, unimpressed.

"All right, which one of you moved it?" He demands, not bothering to answer their unasked question.

"What?" Vanya simply replies.

"It wasn't me," Ben states honestly and after years of his brother being tethered to him, he knows he's telling the truth.

"Nor me," Five says and Klaus can already see his brother, who honestly looks bored, wasn't the one who moved the planchette.

"I didn't see a ghost move the planchette, it was obviously one of you," Klaud answers Vanya, looking at the others accusingly.

"It wasn't me," Luther says.

"Just because you didn't see it, doesn't mean it didn't move the planchette," Five shrugs.

Klaus turns to him, gaze flat.

"Mi Hermano, have you forgotten my power?" Klaus raises an eyebrow. " _I see ghosts_. I would have seen it moved the planchette. There are at least six in this room right now and none of them are even _near_ the board."

Some of his siblings look unsettled about the fact of there being six ghosts in the room with them while they can't see them, and Klaus is grateful for the fact that they can't see them.

"I haven't forgotten your ability, Klaus," Five states, "I'm simply saying that what if there are ghosts that even you can't see? Or maybe they don't have to be touching the board to it."

"Are you trying to tell me how my own power works?" Klaus challenges, slightly riled. It wasn't like him to get annoyed at his siblings. Usually, it was him annoying them, but for some reason, at the prospect of his 'genius' brother trying to tell him how his own power worked, he was getting angry. "I know my own power Five and I'm telling you that none of the ghosts in here have touched this board. It was one of you."

"Jesus- that's not what I'm saying, Klaus," Five rolls his eyes, "I'm just saying that maybe there are some ghosts that even you can't see, and maybe one of them moved the planchette."

Klaus scowls at his brother and looks down at said planchette.

"Well, let's see shall we?" He practically snaps. "Hey, Mr or Miss Invisible Ghost, do you have a name?"

"Jesus Christ, Klaus," Ben turns to him, eyes wide.

"What?" Klaus growls.

The planchette moved again, this time from the word 'YES' to the letter 'T'. At this, Klaus raises an eyebrow. Then it moves to the letters 'O, M, M, Y', spelling out 'Tommy'.

"Wonderfully original, guys," Klaus says, "I'd clap if I wasn't touching this stupid board."

The siblings stare back, confused.

"So, _Tommy_ ," Klaus turns back to the board, clearly disbelieving, "how old are you?"

The planchette moves after a couple of seconds to the numbers one and zero, informing them all that Tommy is ten years old. Across from Klaus, Allison makes a distraught face at the concept of a young, dead boy. He decides to rule her out as the culprit for moving the planchette and also makes a mental note not to talk about child ghosts in front of her.

"Poor kid," Vanya mutters to herself.

"Okay," Klaus says, suddenly realising he has run out of questions. What does one ask a ghost after finding out their name and age, anyway? He wonders. He supposes asking if the 'ghost' is good or bad wouldn't be like asking him how he died. Right?

So, he squares his shoulders and asks his question.

"Okay, Tommy," Klaus repeats, "are you a good spirit or a bad spirit?"

He refrains from using the word 'ghost' because, well, he can see ghosts, but Tommy is nowhere in sight. And perhaps there is a bit of a difference between ghosts and spirits, he begrudgingly admits. Perhaps Five was onto something.

The siblings all wait in anticipation for the planchette to move, but when it does, their breath catches in their throats. Instead of heading towards the letter 'G', it goes for 'B'. And then 'A'. And finally, the letter 'D', spelling out 'BAD'.

There are frowns and worried faces all around the siblings, even from Five who makes it a habit of his to not express anything other than annoyance and disapproval.

"Right," Klaus says, heart pounding. He thinks of the mausoleum and all of the ghosts inside that scream and wail, and beg, and claw, and scratch, and bite. "Well, uh, it's been nice speaking to you, Tommy, but we're going to have to say goodbye now. Is that all right?"

They wait impatiently for their answer, practically on the edges of their metaphorical seats.

Eventually, the planchette moves to 'NO.'

The siblings frown.

"Oh," Klaus says unhelpfully, eyebrows furrowed.

"'Oh'?" Luther repeats and looks up to glare at him.

"W-what do we d-do n-n-now?" Diego asks, his stutter coming back in full force with his emotional turmoil.

"We say goodbye anyway," Klaus tells him as if the answer is obvious.

With that, the siblings move the planchette towards the 'GOODBYE' and collectively remove their fingers from the wood with heavy sighs.

"And that's why you don't-" Luther begins.

"Mess with Ouija boards, yes, we know," Ben cuts him off with an eye roll, standing up and holding a hand out for Klaus. His brother accepts it and gets up, wiping his pyjamas of attic dust.

"We should all get to bed," Allison states, "it's ten to two and tomorrow is Thursday."

"Ugh," Klaus groans dramatically.

Thursday was probably (definitely) the worst day of the week. It was his special training day and he had regular training in the morning from seven to three with his siblings. That meant running up and down the stairs for an hour, working on his and his siblings dodging and fighting skills, and then actually fighting against one another. All that before he had to go to the mausoleum and 'get over his childish fears'.

Ben gives him a sad look, the only one who knows what his personal training is and how bad it is. He's also the only one out of his siblings who's seen what the ghosts look like, having been a ghost himself for a long time, so, though he's never been to the mausoleum, he has an inkling of what it's like in the cold, dark crypt.

"Well, this was a waste of time," Five mutters and then jumps out of the room in a flash of purple.

The others all give their own varying excuses for leaving and going back to bed, and in the end, it's just Klaus and Ben left in the attic. Ben watches Klaus as he stands there, staring silently at the Ouija board.

"Klaus?" He asks his brother.

No reply.

"Klaus?" He tries again, and this time he puts his hand on Klaus' shoulder, earning himself quiet gasp. "Are you all right?"

It's a stupid question, he knows. He spent almost two decades tethered to Klaus during his death and by now, he's well accustomed to what different reactions and facial expressions mean when it comes to his brother - even when wearing their thirteen-year-old faces. Still, he asks anyway because it's better to let Klaus open up in his own time than to force him (as he learned several times in the past).

"Me? I'm peachy," Klaus tells him with a too-big smile that seems, not strained, but something else. Odd. Out of place.

Slowly, Ben nods and removes his hand from Klaus' shoulder.

"We should get to bed," he says quietly.

Klaus nods and silently, they leave the attic to go back to their rooms.

Before entering his own room, Ben hesitates and watches as Klaus opens his own door, his movements looking far too heavy and sluggish for someone who bounded around the house like some teen sized ball of energy on a day-to-day basis.

Shaking his head, Ben enters his room.


End file.
